Thursday, November 23

Tagged by puck via bookaholics, I must write now what books I would take with me if I were to leave the country for a long time. I have hands-on experience with this, so I will say here what books I took with me when I left. So, in no particular order, since I am not at home right now [YES, I am wasting time at work to post in a blog!!!!], here goes:

Lumea vazuta de Garp, John Irving [RO]

Cider House Rules, John Irving [EN]

The Remains Of The Day, Kazuo Ishiguro [EN]

Diavoliada, Mihail Bulgakov [RO]

Maestru si Margareta, Mihail Bulgakov [RO]

Matusa Julia si condeierul, Mario Vargas Llosa [RO]

Un veac de singuratate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez [RO]

Toamna patriarhului, Gabriel Garcia Marquez [RO]

Stupid White Men, Michael Moore [EN]

1984, George Orwell [RO]

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price, J.K. Rowling [EN] - for the kid in me

Picnic la marginea drumului, Arkadi & Boris Strugatki [RO]

a handful of computer books

Before you ask how much my luggage weighed ... A LOT!!!! But I got off with a smile, and the fact that I was flying on the 31st of december, which I think impressed the somewhat pissed-on-life ladies at the check-in counter.

PS I seem to have forgotten some books, I hope they don't get really upset and start a revolution or something (my room already looks ravaging!)

Monday, November 13

Quoting from the MDA site, answering the question "why must there be censorship": "Censorship is practised in all societies to some degree and in varying forms -- whether by community groups, industry bodies or government agencies. In Singapore, censorship exists to protect the young from unsuitable content as well as to maintain stability and harmony in our multi-racial and multi-religious society, while allowing more choice for adults. Our surveys show that Singaporeans generally find censorship standards acceptable. For example, in the recent Censorship Review Committee 2003 survey, more than 70% of the respondents were satisfied with our content standards. Of course, censorship alone is not sufficient. Whether we are able to maintain the moral tone of our society depends largely on the industry, artists and the community and on what society as a whole considers to be acceptable standards for media content. Hence it is a shared responsibility among the various stakeholders, with censorship being complemented by public education for greater media awareness."

So, there must be censorship because everybody does it and because 70% of the population said that they are ok with the censorship standards. Sheesh!!! Cogito ergo sum.

I found this site after www.ktmb.com.my (malaysia railways ticket purchasing online) had banned access. I did not know that ktmb was indecent in any way ... the trains are kinda slow though :))